Gosmore’s Hi-Tech Laundry Cleans Up On Energy Saving
Gosmore Care Home, Hertfordshire, is seeing annual savings of almost £4,500 in on its laundry bills. This has been achieved by Grandimpianti G400 laundry technology installed by Advance Laundry Equipment.
Gosmore is an historic building that has been carefully converted and extended to create a 64 bed care home providing nursing and social care. When laundry specialist Advance offered to show Four Seasons Health Care (FSHC), who own the care home, how to improve their present laundry performance while achieving significant cost savings, and without compromising on the all-important quality of service provided to residents, FSHC were keen to find out more.
FSHC Group Estates Manager Roger Poynton explains: “Laundry is a key area for any care home operator and we actively explore anything that can assist us in the service we offer residents. The claims made by Advance for their Grandimpianti G400 washers and TDG driers made the potential to reduce costs feasible, so when Advance offered a free trial in one of our busy working homes we were keen to see the results.”
The Grandimpianti G400 range includes the washers’ Dynamic Weighing System (DWS) which automatically weighs every wash load and calculates the correct water levels, electric usage and detergent level required to achieve optimum wash results for the actual load. Laundry is washed and rinsed better, while substantial savings are made on energy, chemicals and water.
Independent metering equipment was fitted to the existing washers and dryers at Gosmore and their performance measured over a three-week period. Advance then supplied and fitted an 18kg WH180 G400 and a 10.6kg WH100 G400 washer, plus two TDG180 G400 dryers. Their workload, water, energy and chemical consumption were measured over the next three months as a comparison.
The before and after results of the trial showed that a total saving of £4486.99 per year could be made in gas, water, electricity and detergent by switching to the Advance Grandimpianti machines.
Poynton said: “The results of the trial are compelling.”
Jeremy Hartigan, Business Development Director for Advance Group, said: “The G400 range removes the potential to over-load or under-load machines – a significant factor in obtaining optimum performance. The technology of these machines is bringing laundry operations in care homes into the 21st century, supported by savings that make a return on investment case that is hard to ignore.”
Advance Laundry Equipment is part of the Advance Group. For more information on the Grandimpianti range and the Opura system contact Advance Laundry Equipment on 0800 597 7427 or visit www.advancegroupuk.co.uk.
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The Trial
Initially, hot and cold water flow meters, as well as electrical meters, were fitted to were to Gosmore’s existing Ipso WE165 (16.5kg) and Primus FS10 (10kg) washing machines. A gas meter was fitted to the existing Huebsch 50Cg and Electrolux TT210 gas tumble dryers.
In consultation with a technical consultant from Johnson Diversey, existing machine chemical dosing levels per wash cycle were also measured. The whole laundry process at Gosmore was then measured over 18 days and the result recorded.
The existing machines were then removed and replaced with:
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1 x WH180 G400 18kg capacity washer
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1 x WH100 G400 10 kg capacity washer
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2 x TDG180 G400 gas dryers
The existing metering equipment was used to monitor the consumption figures under the new regime in a direct comparison with the previous equipment.
About Four Seasons Healthcare
Four Seasons Healthcare is one of the UK’s leading independent healthcare providers. The group owns and operates more than 400 care centres and nursing homes, offering consistently high standards of service and care. Almost 80 per cent of its residents require nursing or high dependency care.
In September 2009, Four Seasons Health Care announced further improvement in its quality ratings, with more than four in five of its homes in England (82 per cent) now recognised as either good or excellent by the Care Quality Commission. This puts Four Seasons amongst the highest rated large care home providers in England.
Opura – the way to clean laundry
Advance has also developed the Opura laundry management system that combines ozone, Grandimpianti’s unique washer extractor technology and the ‘Brilliant’ high quality commercial laundry detergent range from R P Adam, to ensure the best possible results every time, both in laundry cleanliness and in energy efficiency,.
Independent tests by Campden BRI, a UK research and development organisation for the food and drinks industry, show that as well as delivering savings in energy, water and chemical usage, Opura also ensures high levels of infection control.